An Equal Match
by french-charlotte
Summary: A days look at the life of the McCloud family... James is obligated to do some fatherly duties... father/son


**Hey everyone! This actually takes place before my other story _The Past Story_. You don't have to read that one to understand this one. It would help but not necessary (but if you like this one... check that one out!). **

**I just wanted to thank silencedfox86 for his support while I wrote this story. Check his story out! It's really good!! **

**This is a one-shot. **

**I hope you like it! **

* * *

The springtime in Corneria always brought about a certain glamour to the environment. While the city was over congested, the suburbs were always blossoming with newly planted bushes and flowers. The residents seemed happier and full of cheer knowing that the long winter was over and the sun was once again closer to the planet thanks to the changing of its tilt. School children were no longer required to play inside and gladly accepted their warm outdoor environment, their parents silently thanking the springtime for their sanity back. Springtime, in fact, seemed to bring out the best in the citizens of Corneria. Everyone except the students at the academy. Particularly a certain vulpine.

Sighing, Fox glanced out the window from his seated position in the lecture hall. He was located six rows from the front stage where his instructor stood lecturing about the stages of supernovae. As the lecture drudged on, Fox felt his mood deepen knowing that the weather was perfect and he was stuck in a dungeon with no escape. _Perfect weather_, he thought, _for flying in my Arwing_. With that notion, he couldn't hold back the quiet moan that escaped his shut lips as he sadly buried his head in his hands. _What a waste of a day_.

Bill, residing to his immediate left, noticed his friend's displeasure and rested his pen down to look over at Fox. Furrowing his eyebrows together, the husky gave his friend a lookover. Fox was worse for wear and he started that way that morning when they woke up for the day's activities. Bill whole-heartedly agreed with Fox that it was a beautiful day for flying and they couldn't ask for better weather. But knowing Fox for so long, Bill knew there was more eating Fox than the young McCloud let on. Fox seemed to get more and more lethargic and depressed as the day grew closer to an end. As this was their last class, Bill could only hope that the mood would reside when the class came to an end.

The fifteen year old Vulpine, as if feeling eyes on him, shifted to his left to glance at his companion. His eyes met his fellow fifteen year old friend and they seemed to share a conversation: Fox, his eyes giving off a saddened look full of defeat, while Bills eyes gave off that of pity for his friend. Bill gave a small grin as if to silently encourage his friend to lift his spirits. The young McCloud gave a small shrug of the shoulders and rested his head down on his arms in front of him. Bill, knowing his mission was a failure, picked up his pen to continue with the lecture notes, curious about his friend's mood.

Fox sat with his head resting in his hands for the duration of the lecture. He had no motivation to participate in the classes proceedings nor did he want to try. His mind was on one thing and one thing only: thinking about the actions that were going to be performed later in the evening, Fox's stomach began to do flips. He had been told of the mission he was assigned to do earlier in the week and was dismayed by it then. His superior officer had told him it was enviable and had to be done as the operation was delayed as it was. Alas, Fox was cornered into the mission. He knew there was no getting out of it as he was going to be escorted to the landing site by the superior officer. All escape plans were null in void.

The sound of a bell interrupted his thoughts as his instructor wrapped up the lecture, yelling at some over-anxious students who packed up early, creeping towards the door in anticipation to leave the classroom. With a sigh, Fox lifted his head, fully aware that his fur was a total calamity from the position he held his head. He slowly and lethargically began to gather his belongings together. At a snail's pace 

he placed his unused laptop in its proper holding carrier while sloppily dropping his writing utensils in along with the laptop. _I'll never find those pens again_, he thought with a sigh. Standing up, he dodged Bills eye contact as he slowly pulled the bag strap over his shoulder and pushed the chair in, a rarity in itself. Turning to leave, Fox glanced at his friend to notice the rest of the cadets were already out of the room. Bill locked eyes with Fox, lifting an eyebrow in speculation.

"Dude," Bill started. "You look like I just keyed your Arwing."

Fox gave another sigh and trudged ahead, passing his friend to get to the door. Bill followed suit and had to slow his pace down to match the speed of his slow moving friend.

"Dude, tell me what's going on." Bill began again as they exited the building to enter the springtime surroundings. Fellow cadets seemed to take notice of the gladdening weather as many camped out on the well kept lawns with blankets and books in hand.

Fox gave another sad sigh as they passed a fast paced Slippy on his way to class, giving a quick wave and hi. "It's… just never mind…"

Bill, unable to take no for an answer stopped dead in his tracks, causing many cadets to go around them, and turned towards his distressed friend. "Seriously, man, what's going on? Tell me."

Fox, finally embarrassed over the realization of his situation, averted eye contact as he responded in a muffled voice: "I have a doctor's appointment."

* * *

Vixxy McCloud was a calm being. In fact, she would usually keep her best composure in even the most trying situations. Not once did she get angry at Fox when he woke her up at 3 o'clock in the morning when he was an infant. She never spanked or hit Fox when he decided to use her freshly painted walls as canvases. Her voice hardly even rose when she realized what kind of magazines Falco gave Fox. But everyone, including the female McCloud, had their breaking points.

"James," she said, her voice straining from anger. "I can't leave. We're too busy!"

There was an angry and impatient sigh on the other line. "Well Vix," James responded, his voice slightly more panicky than hers. "What do you want me to do? We're in the middle of something here."

"James, you know what I want you to do," she responded, her voice rising slightly. Vixxy, who was a volunteer nurse at Cornerian General Hospital, had been talked into staying an extra shift due to a bus accident they just received. She knew the severity of the situation and there was simply no way to leave to attend to other engagements.

"Vixxy, I don't even know what to do if I take him," James pleaded in his defense.

Vixxy gave an impatient sigh. "It's not difficult. He's your son too! You just take him to the doctor's office. I think you can manage that."

There was silence on the other end for several seconds as if in concentration. "Fine," came a rough voice. "Is there anything special he has to get done?"

Vixxy, feeling rejoiced that she won the argument, gave a little sigh. "Yes," she began, "make sure they give him his rabies shot."

* * *

With the car window open to enjoy the day, James slowly creeped the car to a stop as he pulled next to the curb. Glancing around his surroundings, James new all too well the academy that he had once attended. Thinking about his fifteen year old son, James was surprised to realize he had never been to one of Fox's doctor appointments. Vixxy, who made the appointments, had taken him to every one since he was a kit, leaving James clueless as to the proceedings of one. Glancing around for his son, James felt the fur on the back of his neck stand up from nervousness at a thought – _Does that make me a bad father? _Pushing his brows together in discomfort at that notion, he pondered the thought. _No_, he thought, _I love Fox. I mean, I'm a great dad. I taught him how to fly, how to read flight manuals, conduct a preflight check, debriefing…_ James stopped his rambling as a second thought came to mind. _Oh God, what if he never wanted to learn that stuff? What if he just did it to make me happy? Maybe I am a terrible father!_

With a startle, the passenger door came closed with a slam as a younger McCloud gingerly sat down. Fox angrily tossed his bag on the floor in front of him, unable to anywhere else in the roadster. With a sigh and running his hand nervously through his fur, he glanced at his senior… then stopped. Fox, who's face held that of confusion, looked his father over. James sat silent, unaware of his son's entrance, with his face down looking at the steering wheel deep in concentration. Lifting his eyebrows up in utter surprise, Fox slowly moved a hand over to tap James on the shoulder. Using one finger, he calmly pointed his shoulder.

It did the trick, pulling James from his reverie to glance at his son in surprise. "Fox," he began, "I didn't even see, er, hear you come in."

Widening his eyes in surprise at his father's stuttering turned to face the windshield. "Yeah, apparently," he responded. "Mom told me you were coming to pick me up….Everything alright? You looked a little…. Preoccupied."

Pulling the car out of the makeshift parking spot to join the mainstream traffic, James lied: "Yeah, just thinking about some stuff at work."

Not wanting to get into that, Fox merely nodded his head and looked away.

"So, a doctor's appointment… you don't usually have these," James said, more assuming to validate himself as a good father.

Fox gave him a puzzled look then looked back out the window. "What are you talking about? I get physicals once a year…"

Feeling ashamed of his blunder, James attempted to fix it. "Well, what I meant was, you don't get rabies shots all the time."

Fox looked questioningly at his father. "No, I guess not. I think it's every three years or something like that." He paused as if in thought. "I'd have to ask mom."

Making a turn on a street, James felt even worse from Fox's comment. _Of course Vixxy would know_, he thought, _she's a __**good**__ parent…_

"Look dad," Fox said, turning to look at his father as if reading his mind, "I know you're kind of new at this. I mean, I know you've never taken me to any appointments."

James face fell slightly but noticeable for Fox to realize what he said.

"I mean, I know you're busy," Fox stammered. "So, don't worry about, 'k?"

Not feeling the least bit better from his sons' words of encouragement, James gave Fox a slight smile and turned into the parking lot for the doctor's office. "Looks like we're here," James said, happy to change the subject.

* * *

The office was worse than the car ride. Or at least, that was James' opinion. As Fox was still going through puberty, Vixxy felt that leaving Fox to see his pediatrician was better suited than an adult physician. This left James to awkwardly sit in a lime green plastic chair, surrounded by new mothers with their fussy offspring. Holding an open parenting magazine (as the choices were slim), James looked around the cheerfully decorated room noisily filled with the cries of upset children. Fox, who resided next to him, found himself amused enough with his phone to not notice the environment he was in. Shifting for the umpteenth in the plastic chair, James glanced at a distressed raccoon mother sitting several open seats to the left of him. The raccoon was fidgeting with her three triplet offspring, who were in desperate need for a nap. The woman seemed to be losing her patience as one the toddlers attempted to crawl away.

James gave a little smile to her. "Kids can be something else, huh?" James said, following it with a chuckle.

"Yeah really something," the raccoon began, then lifted her head to look at James, narrowing her eyes at him. "Where's your wife?"

The room seemed to get ten degrees hotter. "My wife isn't here," James replied through closed teeth. "I'm taking my son for his doctor's appointment."

A mouse mother with an infant bundled in her arms turned towards the talking pair, momentarily letting go of her page in her magazine. "Oh really," she began, tilting her head. "That's so sweet."

A heavyset bulldog mother, whose bustling child was running around the room making havoc, took notice in the conversation. She was donning a large oversized pink sweater that said _PTA Mom_. "I don't think so," she said with disgust. "It's creepy. You see any other fathers here?"

Before James could give his retort at the rude woman, a young chipmunk nurse no older than twenty stood in the doorway, file in hand. "Fox? We'll see you now."

With a heavy sigh, Fox stood up, hastily stuffing his cell phone in his pants pocket. "Thank the stars…."

Throwing the bulldog a glare, James stood up as well, dropping his long forgotten parenting magazine on the lime chair. _I don't need a parenting magazine_, he thought.

The nurse walked the father and son down a narrow hallway with several doors on each side. She came to the end of the hall then turned into the door on the right. When James entered, he couldn't hold back the gasp of air he unconsciously drew in.

"Ok," the chipmunk said, unaware of James' reaction. "You're going to be in the rainbow room today."

This room was worse than the waiting room. The walls were littered with tiny little rainbows, all the same image, replicated everywhere on the wallpaper. The cabinets nestled in the corner were painted a bright pink and purple, only making the room look more frightening. Even the long examination table was layered with a piece of examination paper in the color yellow. James slowly and cautiously sat down on one of the chairs pushed against a wall, which had little clouds painted on it. To James, it felt as though he was on a high cautions mission… To Fox, who boringly jumped up on the examination table, this was protocol.

"Ok Fox, we're just here for a physical and rabies shot, right?" the nurse asked, flashing a smile.

"Yeah," Fox answered, glancing at his father who was still appalled by the ghastly decorations.

The over happy nurse giddily clapped her hands together. "Wonderful! Dr. Merabba will be in here shortly." With that, she left the room to be followed by silence.

"Dr. Merabba?" James asked, finally pulling his gaze off the décor to look at the young McCloud on the table. "When did you change doctors?"

"I didn't," Fox replied, lifting a skeptical eyebrow.

"Well when did you start going to him then?"

"Um…" Fox said in thought. "Birth."

"Oh," James responded, looking away in thought. _I swear he had a different doctor… _"So how's school?"

Fox gave him a look. "Good…. Why? Did you get a call from a teacher?"

James gave the younger McCloud a stern glare. "Should I be expecting one?"

Fox immediately diverted his eyes. "No," he mumbled. "I guess not…" then tried to change the subject, bringing his face up to glare at James, "You know mom never comes in the room with me."

James rolled his eyes at his son's antics. "I wish you told me this before I walked in here," James replied, gesturing to the rainbows.

A small knock came to the door, interrupting the conversation at hand. Slowly the door opened to reveal an older black bear. The doctor, who had a tall and authoritative stature, was in his early forties. He held a happy but rough smile on this face as he placed the file on the desk next to the sink.

"Hey Fox, how are we doing today," Dr. Merabba asked, glancing at the teenager sitting on the table.

"Good," Fox replied, then added with a smile. "I'd be better without the rabies shot."

The doctor gave a deep chuckle as he moved from the sink towards Fox, spotting James on the chair. He gave a surprised look on his face then turned towards the older McCloud.

"Wow, hello James," the doctor said, hand out reached. "It's been a while."

James returned the handshake wearily. "It hasn't been that long."

The doctor gave a grin and looked to the ceiling in thought. "Fifteen years I believe."

Breaking the hand shake, James gave a nervous laugh. "Wow… the time just flies, doesn't it?"

Moving towards Fox again, the doctor gave a little shrug to him. "Don't let it bother you. I view it as a reward when I get to see the fathers."

James chose not to respond, instead he allowed the doctor get on with his work. _The faster we can get out of here the better. _

Pulling out his stethoscope the physician rested it on Fox's chest under his loose t-shirt. While the occupants in the room remained silent, the doctor shifted the tool around to get better readings. Glancing at his watch, James wondered how long the endeavor would take as he longed to leave the office. "Ok Fox, now just take a couple deep breaths for me," the doctor requested to the young vulpine. Fox complied, taking in several shakily, audible breaths. The doctor listened for a little bit before removing the stethoscope and moving over to the resting folder. Messily, he scribbled something down on the sheet.

"Why are you writing that down? Is everything alright?" James asked concerned over the gesture.

Fox gave a heavy sigh. "Dad… just let him do his job."

A deep chuckle came from the bear as he stepped forward from the folder to continue with the examination on Fox. "I have to write down his vitals. The academy requires that I fax a copy of them to make sure he's in good health."

"Oh," James replied in a small voice, feeling foolish. _They never did that when I was in the academy_, James thought.

"Dad," Fox began as the doctor was examining his lymph nodes in his throat, "maybe you should, like, go sit in the waiting room."

James stiffed at the request of this son, slightly offended. "Fox, I'm staying here. I want to make you're healthy."

Not wanting to get in the middle of the bickering two, the doctor continued the examination as if it were silent. Both the McCloud boys were stubborn and hard headed; making their arguments rather trying. "Ok Fox, I need you to look into the light," the doctor requested as he held a small device that pointed a bright light at Fox's eye. After checking one over, the doctor checked the second pupil and turned to record his findings on the folder.

"Eyes look good," he mumbled as he scribbled, turning from the folder to Fox once again. "Ok, let's look at the throat. Say 'ah'."

Fox gingerly obeyed the doctor as he widened his mouth, tongue slightly hanging out. The physician put a Popsicle stick down on the tongue. As he observed the vulpine, his eyebrows knitted as if confused.

James, picking up on the facial confusion, perked his ears up in attention. "Is everything alright?"

"Hm…" the doctor responded, pulling out a penlight to get a better look. "Looks like streptococcus. I'll have to run a swab to be sure though."

Fox gave an alarmed look. "Is it bad? I feel ok."

After pulling out a six inch wooden stick with cotton at the end, the doctor turned towards the questioning McCloud. "Has your throat been hurting? Difficulty swallowing? Fever?"

James looked at Fox sternly. "Why didn't you tell me you were sick?"

"James," the doctor said reassuringly. "Some kids tend to hide it from their parents."

"Hey!" Fox interjected. "I'm not sick – at least I didn't think so. And yeah, it hurts to swallow sometimes but I thought it was just from the changing weather. You know, allergies and stuff."

Gently placing the Popsicle stick on Fox's tongue he brought the other stick forward. "This is going to feel a little odd. I have to swab your tonsils. It looks like a collection of white blood cells are present."

"White blood cells?!" James asked, standing up abruptly. "Should I call Vixxy?" _Damn it… Vixxy would know what to do here… I wish she would have come instead of me. What am I supposed to do? I don't know any of this crap! _

The doctor chuckled as he swiftly rubbed the end of the stick on the young vulpines' lymphoid tissue. "James it's ok. Seeing groups of white blood cells just indicates there's an infection. I'm pretty sure it's strep throat."

"Oh," James said weakly, sitting down. "That's it? Strep throat?"

The doctor nodded as he placed the swab inside a plastic tube and continued with the examination on Fox, starting with his ears. "If the test is positive I'll give you some antibiotics and he should stay at home for a week."

"Alright… "James said hesitantly, not wanting to pursue questioning the bear until they knew for sure it was strep throat.

After finishing up looking into the ear, the doctor went back to the folder to record the vitals. "Ok Fox. I need you to disrobe down to your shorts. I'm going to go run the test, prepare the vaccine, and then I'll be back in." The doctor gave a quick smile at Fox then James and left the room.

Fox, sitting silently on the table, looked over at James. James looked back at him, not sharing the same hostile glare. "What did I do now?" James asked.

"Why are you still here?!" Fox asked furiously. "You're **not** staying in here for the exam!"

James, not quite understanding Fox for a couple seconds, felt his cheeks burn red from embarrassment as realization set in. _I should have known that… c'mon James, get on the ball with things… Vixxy would never screw that up. Then again, Vixxy would never be in the room to begin with._

"Fine," he said. Lifting his arms in defeat he stood up and reached for the door. "Have them come get me when you're done with this next… exam."

Fox angrily shook his head and looked at the ceiling in exasperation. James opened the door to allow him escape from the rainbow nightmare. He hesitantly turned around towards his son before departing.

"Um… and, uh, good luck with this… this next exam…" James said to the angered teenager.

"GO!" Fox yelled impatiently at his embarrassing father.

* * *

When James entered the bright waiting room, he wasn't surprised to find the mouse and raccoon no longer in the room. However, he was unpleasantly surprised to find the vulgar bulldog, wearing the bright pink sweatshirt, still residing in the room. This time though her lively child was nowhere in site. Instead, she sat silent being the only waiting parent in the room, clutching a magazine (another parenting one) in her hands. James knew that making a scene would be inappropriate and immature so he opted to stealthily enter the room, hoping to not grab her attention. As James silently sat down in a seat several away from hers, the woman noticed and lifted her head to meet his glare.

"Oh," she started, her voice high in sarcasm. "I see you're back. Didn't take you long. Your boy is, what, sixteen and you go with him in the room? What's wrong with you?"

James, not wanting to make a scene, put on a polite smile and responded through closed teeth. "I just want to make sure my son is healthy." He leaned over to the table resting in front of him and grabbed another parenting magazine off of it.

The heavyset woman noticed his reach for the magazine and didn't wait a beat to respond under her breath, readjusting her sweater. "Uh huh, you should pick up that magazine… could probably learn a thing or two about real parenting…"

James, finally cracking from the stress from the days endeavors closed the magazine and looked exasperated at the bulldog. "Ok listen up Porky Pink," he said, pointing an accusing finger at the surprised woman, "I'm a great parent, ok? Hell, I've been a parent longer than you. That little hell hound of yours running around here earlier? Yeah, can we say bad parenting skills? Maybe you should take your nose out of the air long enough to realize your kid is as much of a stuck up bastard as you."

The woman, at lose of words from the rant, simply stared hard at him, shaking her head. After again adjusting her pink sweater, she huffed as she resumed reading her magazine, obviously forfeiting their fight.

James gave a sigh as he also picked up the magazine and began to read about the signs of puberty in a child. _Yes… Fox has definitely hit most of these_. He thumbed through several magazines to pass the time, not taking any time to really read the articles as most were about infants. _I'm so thankful we no longer have one of __**those**_. While he liked to believe that him and Vixxy split parenting Fox, James knew better. He was aware of his long departures and the tolls it took on Fox. Hell, just several weeks after Foxs' birth he was called away. When the Arwings debuted, James read the manuals nonstop. It just so happened that at the time, Fox was learning how to read and write and found that the only way to spend the most time with James was by reading the manuals slowly with him. James didn't mind the pace being so delayed as he wanted to thoroughly read the manuals. However, as James sat in the waiting room thinking back on the memory, he was sure it was wrong of him as a parent to do that. He should have been teaching Fox how to read with books about cartoon animals, not g-diffusers.

The young nurse from before stepped into the silent waiting room. "Mr. McCloud? You can go back inside the room."

Thankfully, James placed the unread magazine back on the table and proceeded to walk down the hall to the rainbow room. He gave a small knock, just to make sure they were done. He didn't even want to imagine the yelling fit Fox would have if he happened to walk in on…._that_ exam.

Cautiously opening up the door, James was greeted with Fox sitting on the table, fully clothed, while the doctor scribbled in the folder.

"Everything go ok?" James asked as he sat down on his chair.

"Yep," the bear answered, turning from the folder to look at the elder McCloud. "The test result came back positive for streptococcus."

Allowing this to sink in, James nodded, waiting for the doctor to say more, which he did. "I'm going to prescribe him 250mg of erythromycin in a 10 day pack to be taken once a day. While the infection will most likely go away in four or five days, he needs to take the full pack. Understand?"

James absently nodded and the doctor continued.

"Now, the side efforts are vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, and nausea. This can be taken with or without food, it doesn't really matter. Make sure Fox stays home from school for a week and has plenty of fluids. Stay away from dairy fluids and foods, like milk and ice cream. He should drink water or juice."

The doctor took a break in his explanation to write down a prescription and hand it to the blank faced James. "Just take this to any pharmacy and they should fill it. Any questions?"

With a dumbfound look on his face, James absentmindedly shook his head. _What the hell did he just say? _

"Ok then. We administered the rabies shot. He's going to be tired for the rest of the day and should get plenty of rest. I'm sure your wife knows how this works."

"Uh… yeah… she should…" James said, almost lost.

"Hey," the bear said, placing a reassuring hand on James' shoulder. "Don't worry so much. You're doing fine."

"Can we go now?" Fox interrupted the pair, jumping off the table.

The doctor, taking note in Fox's mood, nodded. "Yeah. Unless you have questions, I have nothing else to say. You can always call if you have questions later on. You two take care now!" With a quick smile and nod, the doctor opened the door to leave, allowing the door to linger open as the father and son exited too.

* * *

Once in the car, James was quick to make sure Fox was comfortable in every way possible. James knew that strep throat was slightly common but was still worried about the well being of his son. Plus, he had never dealt with Fox when he had an illness as Vixxy was always the parent to handle it. She, being a nurse, already knew the medical aspect of his ailing which made caring for him easier. For James, illnesses were a brand new field for him. _Give me tanks shooting at me. Give me bombs going off. But for Stars sake, don't give me a sick teenager, _James thought, pulling out of the parking spot.

"How did the rabies shot go?" James asked the laying back teenager, groggy from the day's events.

"Meh," he mumbled out for a response, looking out the window. "You know… scary large needle… it went great."

"Yeah," James absently said, turning down a street to get on the main highway. "I want you to get right in bed, alright? No flying for a week. No leaving the house period."

Fox groaned a protest but couldn't find the strength to make an audible defense. Instead, he continued looking out the window when a thought struck him.

"Dad," Fox started, turning his head to get a look at the older McCloud, "aren't we going to the store?"

James shook his head in confusion, taking his eyes off the road for a couple seconds to look at his tired son. "Store? Why would we go to the store?"

Fox knit his eyebrows together in confusion. "Wait, didn't mom tell you?"

James hurriedly shook his head in response. _Great, another thing I screwed up on_. "Mom didn't explain anything about this crap."

"Oh," Fox muttered in a small voice. "It's tradition…"

A hurt expression crossed over Fox's face slow enough for James to see it and regret what he said. _I shouldn't be short with him. It's not his fault I suck as a parent._ "What's the tradition, Fox?" James asked in a quiet voice.

Fox propped himself up on his elbows in the lowered back passenger seat and looked at his father. "She always takes me to the store to get a video game. We've been doing it for so long. Kind of out of good behavior…"

Letting out a sigh between his pursed lips, James knew he had to oblige to the tradition. He knew he screwed up throughout the whole day and didn't want to mess things up anymore. He was already sure that he forgot the instructions for the medication for Fox…

"Alright," James replied, pulling off the main highway towards a strip mall where a video game store was, "we'll go. But I want you resting! You can only play this in your room and lying down. And not for long! Got it?"

Fox feebly nodded his head slowly, thankful for his father's generosity.

* * *

James sat on their suede sectional couch, watching the evening news. He and Fox had returned several hours earlier, video game in tow. Fox, still worn out, was quick to heed his father's advice to him, making his way to his room to lie down. James had called the hospital to inform Vixxy of Fox's sickness and the prescription that she had to pick up on her way home, which he dropped off. She informed him that she would be leaving the hospital after the wave of patients she was checking in were properly cared for and would talk with James once she got home.

The TV news was interrupted by the sound of the door opening and a female fox strolling through the door, donning a pair of dirty scrubs. Her hair was messily pulled back from her face that looked tired and worn.

"Hey James," Vixxy called, taking off her shoes. "I'm home."

James was quick to turn off the T.V. and lift himself up from the couch. As he made his way to the entrance, he strained his ears to pick up any noises from Fox's chambers. At hearing silence, he was satisfied. _He's listening to me for once. Only took fifteen years_.

"Hey honey," James said, planting a kiss on her lips. "Try to be quiet; Fox is sleeping."

After returning the kiss, Vixxy turned to enter the kitchen to begin the evening meal. "Oh, really? He must be really exhausted." She pulled noodles from the pantry and a pot from the cabinet.

"Yeah," James began, sitting on a stool from the bar. "It was a hectic day for him."

Vixxy, after filling the pot with water, turned on the range to boil it and began taking out vegetables. "Yeah I bet it was hectic for both of you."

James gave a small smirk at her comment. "I almost got in a fight with pushy broad in the office."

Vixxy, who was in the middle of cutting up a tomato, turned to look at him, as if not hearing him right. "I hope you're kidding."

Chuckling and opening an armory magazine on the bar, James shook his head. "Nope. She started it. But either way, Fox got to the doctor alright and I handled things."

Vixxy continued cutting up the vegetables. "That's good to hear. I was sure I'd get a panicked call from you."

"Nope," James responded, flipping the page, "I even kept up your tradition."

Vixxy stopped cutting the vegetables and looked at her husband questioningly. "What tradition?"

James looked up from the magazine to meet his wife's gaze and answered calmly: "The 'video game after the doctor visit' tradition."

Vixxy immediately pulled a hand up to her mouth, as if to cover it. "Oh James…"

James, immediately panicked by her gestured, lifted is arms up questioningly. "What? I got the video game. Everything's alright."

Turning her head to hide her laughter, she was able to utter out: "There is no tradition."

James sat silenced, allowing it to dawn on him. "Did I just.."

Vixxy nodded, still giggling. "You got tricked by your fifteen year old son."

**I hope everyone liked it! Please review!**


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